The first lady joined Reid on Monday at a high school for a get-out-the-vote rally, framing the race as a battle over the “American Dream” and its promises of unfettered opportunity and middle-class comfort.

Reid is in a tight race against Republican tea party favorite Sharron Angle. Statewide newspaper polls show the outcome is too close to call.

Republicans are dismissing the first lady’s visit as an empty last-ditch effort by Reid’s camp to save his “sinking ship.”